A New York Deli Hits the Spot!

My parents are in town for my graduation from Stern (yay happy times!). They love a classic New York deli that is near my brother's apartment: Sarge's (http://www.sargesdeli.com/). Unfortunately, it was closed due to a fire in 2012. It recently reopened! I was pleased because I had never tried it while it was open and now was my chance!

Before my parents visited, I had ordered Sarge's through Seamless. I got a turkey sandwich and the pasta salad - both were incredible! There is something about eating in the physical restaurant that is much better than Seamless, so I was excited to try it on site!

My dad wasn't the biggest fan of the fries before, so he was curious to try them out. Based on his reaction, I am 100% sure they are much better! Before they were the thick steak-cut fries - these are a much better size ratio. The onion rings were awesome! I hate when you bite into one and the onion separates from the batter; this one stayed in tact! The waffle-cut sweet potato fries were great, but I would have preferred the normal shape.

French Fries

Onion Rings!

Crinkle Cut Sweet Potato Fries

I should also mention, you get a bowl of coleslaw and a bowl of pickles for the table. The serving size of coleslaw seemed appropriate for our group size (4) but the pickles were far too plentiful!

I ordered the turkey sandwich (as did my dad and brother) and my mom got the pastrami. It is KEY to order it lean. You can get it normal (which is somewhat fatty), lean (still tasty and delicious but not as gristly) or super lean (a bit drier but much less fat).

The turkey is REAL turkey, unlike deli meats you may get at a grocery store. The meat is carved from an actual turkey vs. some monstrous reformed blob of meat. It is divine. You must try it.

The pastrami? Where to start??? It is the best pastrami I've ever had. Katz's does not impress me - it is WAY too thick. Also, Carnegie is great but just cannot compare. The waitress gave me a funny look when I asked for mayo and said she "wouldn't tell anyone" - I realize it is a cardinal sin to not have mustard, but, deal with it. I appreciated that she didn't rat me out to the culinary police.

Also, the macaroni salad is AMAZING. It is the perfect combo of tangy with a hint of sweetness. Some are overly sweet or have too much mayo - this was awesome! Normally different shaped pastas in the same dish freak me out, but I actually liked the elbows and larger shells. WIN.

Best Macaroni Salad!

TURKEY!

Pastrami!

You may have noticed that these sandwiches are MASSIVE. I recommend requesting several additional slices of bread (I always get rye), so you can make a couple more sandwiches with the left-overs you will likely take home! You can get 2-3 sandwiches, at least, depending on your preferred meat-to-bread ratio.

Eating at an Iconic Restaurant with an Iconic Friend

FINALLY! I went to Katz's Delicatessen (http://katzsdelicatessen.com/) with my buddy Scott. This New York icon has been open since 1888 and serves up 10,000 pounds of pastrami..WEEKLY! Impressive, right?

Bright lights, BIG pastrami

As a big fan of pastrami, I knew I had to try this place out. Sometimes, I enjoy getting a turkey sandwich with bacon at a deli. But, as a Kosher deli, Katz doesn't dabble in bacon.

Order Up!

When you arrive, you're given an order ticket. I didn't realize that we could sit down for table service (which would have been much easier/less stressful), so we got on line to order. Scott waited for the sandwiches and I ordered my bowl of soup. It was a bit tricky to juggle everything and stake out a table, but great challenges yield great rewards. I managed to get most of the soup to the table...

Allegedly, this is Matzo Ball Soup

I don't know if you could tell by the photo, but the matzo ball was just insanely out of proportion. It was a bit intimidating. I ate around it but didn't eat the whole thing. It was simply too much. I would have preferred several small Swedish meatball sized ones than this softball.

Lean Pastrami Sandwich

Sometimes pastrami can be way too fatty, with loads of gristle. NOT A FAN! As a precaution, we ordered the pastrami lean. Personally, the meat was cut too thick. I prefer thinly sliced pastrami. Also, they give you a lot of lip if you ask for mayo on your pastrami. Not cool! Whatever, I sucked it up and got it. Whatever it takes, right? I prefer Carnegie Deli's pastrami. Plus, they have BACON.

We also got some pickles...or should I call them salt bombs?

Salt Delivery Vehicles

I LOVE salty foods but even these pickles were too much for me to handle. Oh well.

You likely know, but this deli was famously featured in "When Harry Met Sally" in the "I'll Have What She's Having" scene. My sandwich was good but not orgasmic.

Hollywood Baby!

I'm glad I finally went here but I'm not sure I'll come back. There are simply too many incredible places I have yet to visit!

Carnegie Deli FTW

Last week, after our dinner at Indochine and cigars at Lexington Bar & Books, Scott and I were naturally hungry for a second meal. Hours had passed and drinks had been drunk - it was time for a late night deli. But where? Not surprisingly, not many diners are open past midnight on the Upper East Side. We thought about going to Katz's (as I, sadly, have never been) but it was closed at that point. We went to old reliable: Carnegie Deli (http://www.carnegiedeli.com/home.php).

Open Till 4am, FOR YOU!

Naturally, I ordered my favorite. A hot pastrami sandwich, with LEAN pastrami. Even ordered this way, it has a healthy serving of fat on it. Otherwise, I just can't bring myself to eat it - the texture is too...chewy? I get it with mayo; fat in a form I can handle. I find it annoying that you have to ask them to bring extra rye bread. Does anyone seriously eat the sandwich below as is? I mean, can YOU break your jaw like a python to eat that thing?

Lean Pastrami

Scott ordered some ridiculous sandwich from a part of the menu called "In the Heat of the Sandwich" - it was open faced and called the Lil' Abner -hot brisket of beef with gravy and steak fries.

Lil' Abner

The meal was amazing and the left-overs the next day were also great. While we were there enjoying our food, the late night staff was cleaning out the dessert display. Can you even handle the glory that was laid out in front of us? I hoped they wouldn't noticed if one of the cheesecakes went missing, but they were on top of their game!

Desserts on Parade!

Who knows what this dessert is but it is epic. Gotta love it.

The 5th Avenue

The 5th Avenue is a peanut butter and chocolate cream pie. It looked magical, but after our first dinner, drinks AND a sandwich, I needed to know when to say no.